Extract from The American Heritage Program for Your Community
List of Freedom Train Documents
June 1948 (Ms79-87)
The Beginnings
Letter by Columbus on Discovery of America
Thirteenth Century Manuscript of Magna Carta
Stirrings of Freedom in Colonial America
The Mayflower Compact
Pennsylvania Charter of Privileges of 1701
The Struggle for Independence
Declaration of the Nine Colonies (1765)
Thomas Jefferson's Statement on Rights of Colonists (1774)
Declaration of the People Against Governor Berkeley
Original Letter of Caesar Rodney, dated July 4, 1776, Describing the Voting of Independence
Manuscript Essay of James Iredell Stating the Rights of the Colonists
Jefferson's Draft of the Declaration of Independence (June 11-28, 1776)
Original Letter of Benjamin Franklin and Silas Deane Transmitting Certified Copies of the
Declaration of Independence and the Articles of Confederation to the King of Prussia (Feb. 14,
1777)
Copy of the Declaration of Independence Attested and Signed by Benjamin Franklin and Silas
Deane
A Contemporary Manuscript Copy of the Articles of Confederation Attested and Signed by
Benjamin Franklin and Silas Deane
Paine's "Common Sense" (1776)
Fight for Freedom
"The Crisis" by Thomas Paine (1776)
Paul Revere's Original Commission as Official Messenger
Original Orders of the Continental Congress Increasing the Powers of General Washington
Letter of George Washington to Gouverneur Morris Describing Conditions of Winter
Headquarters in 1780
The Treaty of Paris (1783)
Religious Freedom
President Washington's "To Bigotry No Sanction" Letter
Roger Williams' Statement on Religious Freedom
Jefferson's Bill for Religious Freedom (1784)
The Bay Psalm Book
The Achievement of The Constitution
The Federalist (1788)
John Jay's Original Corrected Manuscript Draft of Federalist Paper No. 5
The Virginia Plan of the Constitution of the United States (1787)
Washington's Own Copy of the Constitution (1787)
Journal of the Constitutional Convention Showing Entry for August 20, 1787, When the Habeas
Corpus Clause Was Suggested for Inclusion in the Constitution
Draft Report of the Committee of Detail of the Constitutional Convention Showing Earliest
Provisions for Trial by Jury as Part of the Constitution of the United States (August 1787)
Pennsylvania's Ratification of the Federal Constitution (1789)
The Bill of Rights (1789)
George Mason's Draft of the Declaration of Rights to Be Proposed by the Virginia Convention as
Amendments to the Constitution of the United States (June 1788)
Official Manuscript List of Proposed Amendments Protecting Civil Liberties Submitted by
Virginia with her Ratification of the Constitution (1789)
Congress' Working Drafts of the First Amendments to the Constitution - The Bill of Rights
(1789)
Congressional Resolution That President Submit First Proposed Amendments to States
(1789)
Virginia's Ratification of the Bill of Rights (1791)
Thomas Jefferson's Letter to James Madison Commenting on the Proposed Constitution of the
United States and His Regret at the Omission of a Bill of Rights (December 20, 1787)
James Madison's Letter to Thomas Jefferson Noting That Madison Had Introduced Resolutions
for the Amendment of the Constitution of the United States Which Would Guarantee Basic
Personal Rights (June 13, 1789)
Alexander Hamilton
Alexander Hamilton's Original Manuscript Outline of Subjects of Part of "The Federalist"
(1788)
Alexander Hamilton's Original Manuscript Draft of His "Report on the Public Credit"
(1790)
Alexander Hamilton's Original Manuscript Draft of George Washington's Farewell Address
(July 1796)
The Flag
William Colbreath's Manuscript Account of the First Known Military Raising of the American
Flag (August 3, 1777)
Original Manuscript of "The Star Spangled Banner"
Washington's Leadership
Washington's Revolutionary War Account Book Written in His Own Hand (1775-83)
Washington's Farewell Address (Sept. 1796)
Emancipation and Reconciliation
Abraham Lincoln's Draft of the Emancipation Proclamation (July 14, 1862)
The Emancipation Proclamation
Senate Version of Joint Resolution Proposing Amendment to Abolish Slavery (1864)
Abraham Lincoln's Gettysburg Address (November 19, 1863)
Letter of Henry Laurens of South Carolina Attacking Slavery (August 14, 1776)
General Robert E. Lee's Letter Accepting the Presidency of Washington College (August 24,
1865)
Abraham Lincoln's Baltimore Address (April 18, 1864)
Women's Rights
Petition of the National Women's Suffrage Association to Congress (1873)
Petition of Matilda Hindman Asking Congress Not to Disenfranchise Utah Woman (1874)
The Nineteenth Amendment - The Joint Resolution of Congress Proposing an Amendment to the
Constitution Extending the Right of Suffrage to Women (1919)
Freedom Follows The Flag
The Northwest Ordinance (1787)
Letter from president McKinley to William Howard Taft, President of the Philippine
Commission (1900)
Proclamation of the Independence of the Philippines, Signed by President Harry S. Truman
(1946)
Letter of President Theodore Roosevelt to Secretary of War William Howard Taft in Regard to
Keeping Our Promise to Get Out of Cuba (1907)
Proclamation of Richard P. Leary, Naval Governor of the Isle of Guam, Abolishing Slavery and
Peonage (1900)
American Memorabilia
Deborah Gannett's Deposition in Her Claim for a Pension for Revolutionary War Service
(1818)
Benjamin Franklin's Own Epitaph in His Own Hand
Mirabeau's Tribute to Franklin (June 11, 1790)
The Thanks of the Congress of the United States to the French Nation (March 2, 1791)
Jefferson's Letter of June 17, 1785, from Paris to James Monroe Praising America
Letter of John Jay to John Trumbull in Which Is Coined the Word "Americanize" (October
1797)
Original Letter in Siamese from King Mongkut of Siam Offering to Send a Gift of Elephants to
the President of the United States (1861)
Andrew Jackson's Letter to the Secretary of War Describing the Battle of New Orleans
(1815)
Logbook of the U. S. Frigate "Constitution" (1815)
Eleven Original Treasury Bonds Dating from 1779 Through 1947
Letter of December 28, 1908, from Secretary of State Elihu Root to President Theodore
Roosevelt and the President's Message to Congress on January 4, 1909, Regarding the Remission
of Boxer Indemnity Funds
Land Script Issued to New York for the Establishment of a College of Agriculture and Mechanic
Arts (1862)
Freedom of the Press
John Peter Zenger's New-York Weekly Journal, Issue No. 48 (September 1734)
John Peter Zenger's New-York Weekly Journal No. 55 (November 25, 1734)
John Peter Zenger's New-York Weekly Journal No. 93 (August 18, 1735)
Benjamin Franklin's Editorial on Zenger Printed in the Pennsylvania Gazette, 1737
The North Briton, No. 45 (April 23, 1763)
Alton Trials (New York, 1838)
An Essay on the Liberty of the Press by George Hay (Philadelphia, 1799)
John Milton's "Areopagitica" (1644)
Thomas Jefferson's Letter to Thomas Seymour (February 11, 1807)
Letter from Thomas Jefferson to Edward Carrington (January 16, 1787)
The Nations United
Original Typescript Draft of the Covenant of the League of Nations (1918)
Declaration by the United Nations (1942)
The United Nations Charter (1945)
Fight for Freedom - World War II
Proclamation of an Unlimited National Emergency (May 27, 1941)
The Selection of General Eisenhower as Supreme Commander of the Allied Invasion of Western
Europe
Agreement for the Invasion of Western Europe
Congratulations from the Secretary of War to the Supreme Commander
Last Message from Corregidor
"Merry Christmas" from Bastogne
Admiral Spruance Reports on Operations at Iwo Jima
Admiral Halsey's Report on Naval Action in Philippine Waters
Admiral Nimitz' Battle Report of Midway
Personal Report of General Stilwell to General Marshall (January 28, 1944)
Secretary of the Navy Knox Praises The United States Marine Corps
President Roosevelt's Tribute to Captain Colin Kelly
Freedom Triumphs
General Clark's Victory Message
Instrument of Surrender of Japanese Forces in the Philippine Islands
Surrender of Japanese Forces on Truk
Germany Surrenders Unconditionally
Surrender of Japanese Forces on Wake Island
Surrender of Japanese Forces in The Ryukyus
Log of the "U.S.S. Missouri" - Japanese Surrender